Broadband 2015 Community Forum
Sunday, Mar 20 2011

Yesterday we held the Broadband 2015 Community Forum which was sponsored by the Blacksburg Electronic Village, Inc. and the Town of Blacksburg.

Many people came out on a beautiful Saturday morning to discuss and help plan the next steps to move Blacksburg forward and increase broadband capacity not only in town, but in the region.

We heard from speakers who talked about the value to consumers and we heard from speakers who talked about the value to producers. It was good to be reminded of the economic impact of quality high speed broadband that will encourage and produce new jobs.

I was an original participant when the Community launched the Blacksburg Electronic Village. I witnessed the same excitement yesterday with a real desire to move ahead. As with the original BEV, the new BEV can move forward with citizen participation and town, university and business support.

To ignore the global economy is the equivalent of believing the world if flat. Making sure our region has a suitable storefront, in terms of digital bandwidth, is the same as setting up a physical shop with an eye on location, location, location.

We know this to be true: it is not if, it is when. Then the decision becomes now or later? Indecision seems irresponsible if the goal is progress through connection. If the objective is isolation, then just keep sailing…for when the edge comes, it will then be too late to participate.